Eliminate the Over-Reliance on Standardized Tests in Public Schools

J4J wants an end to punitive, high stakes standardized tests. Require districts to use tests for assessment only, with multiple assessment tools utilized to evaluate student growth and needs. Multiple studies have confirmed that standardized tests are an excellent indicator of one’s zip code, not their aptitude. In America, standardized tests have long been used to support the illusion of white supremacy and we argue that the intent is the same today. If W.E.B. DuBois understood this in 1940, it is inexcusable to be tone deaf today. Standardized testing has been used to purge school districts of veteran Black teachers and to inflict harmful school closings on Black and Brown communities. Today parents of all races are in a full scale revolt against standardized testing. The Opt Out movement is a rainbow of parents who refuse to allow their children to be subjected to tests that do not aid teaching and learning, but enrich politically connected testing companies. We encourage the federal government to listen.